Customised sports mouthguards are known. Typically they are made by taking a mould or impression of a user's mouth and then moulding the guard individually from this impression to fit the specific and unique mouth of the user. While these customised guards obviously fit well in the user's mouth, it will be readily understood that this method of making sports guards is expensive as each guard is made to custom fit the user's mouth. Mass produced sports guards often do not produce a close fit and the protection that they provide is reduced as a result. This has limited their acceptance in the market place despite a clear need for an efficacious mass produced sports guard.
A further limitation of existing custom made and mass produced sports guards is that they are relatively soft and they offer only limited protection to the front teeth. If a blow strikes the front of the mouthguard, the guard tends to deform, so that the brunt of the blow is borne by the front teeth. This makes the front teeth vulnerable to being damaged or dislodged. It would be better if the force was transferred to all the teeth and particularly through to the back teeth that are particularly firmly anchored to the jaw.
Clearly it would be advantageous if a guard could be devised that had the strength and rigidity to transfer the force rearwardly so that the force is spread over all the teeth and particularly the back teeth. Clearly it would also be advantageous if a guard could be devised that had the fit of a custom made guard but that was mass produced and easy to fit in a domestic environment.
It would also be advantageous if a guard could be devised that was very efficacious at dissipating the energy of an impact. This would reduce the potential for injury or trauma to a user.
It is an object of the invention to provide a sports guard that ameliorates at least some of the shortcomings of the prior art described above.